Chapter 13 : What a Good Comrade

As soon as the wake-up whistle sounded, Su Mo woke up immediately. It seemed to be a conditioned reflex that the original owner developed during those ten days.

Ma Xiaojuan and Chen Lan also sat up and began to get dressed.

“Su Mo, hurry up, we have to gather at the brigade headquarters at 5:30,” Ma Xiaojuan urged.

During the autumn harvest, the wake-up whistle would blow at 5 o’clock, and everyone would gather at the brigade headquarters at 5:30 to listen to the brigade leader assign the production tasks for the day.

There were more than 1,000 people in Lujia Village Brigade, and more than 800 of them were able to work. These 800 people were divided into eight production teams, with each team having five sub-teams.

The team leader would assign production tasks to the production team leader in the morning, and then the team leader would assign tasks to the sub-team leaders. These leaders would then take their team members to the task area and assign specific jobs on the spot according to the actual situation.

That was basically the process.

“Su Mo, hurry up. Today’s breakfast is sweet potatoes. If you’re late, the big ones will be picked first,” Ma Xiaojuan urged again.

During the autumn harvest, people had to start work very early and had no time for breakfast at home. Everyone prepared breakfast the night before and took it with them, eating while walking to work.

“Xiaojuan, I would like to take another day off today to go to the county town to buy some things,” Su Mo said after a moment of hesitation.

The sooner the tasks were done, the more secure things would be. If something unexpected happened, she would have time to adjust. If she waited until after the autumn harvest, it would be a bit tight.

“Then you need to go and tell the captain. He may not approve it.”

Ma Xiaojuan also wanted to ask for leave but felt that the team leader was targeting her, and she didn’t understand how she had offended him.

“If you manage to get permission, could you bring some things back for me when you go to the county town? I’ll give you the money later.”

“Okay,” Su Mo nodded.

After Ma Xiaojuan and Chen Lan went out, Su Mo changed clothes.

Su Mo picked out the relatively low-key khaki pants and white shirt from the original owner’s clothes and then put on a pair of white cloth shoes. She braided her shoulder-length hair into two small braids, which hung down on the sides of her shoulders, making her look both beautiful and playful.

The educated youth who were washing outside were a bit surprised to see Su Mo coming out dressed like this.

“Su Zhiqing, aren’t you going to work today?” Zheng Caiping asked, envy in her eyes. She wished she had a set of clothes like that.

“Well, I’m not going today. I need to go to the county town for something.”

“If you don’t get enough work points, you won’t get much food. The winters here are very long,” Zheng Caiping reminded.

Although Su Mo could earn at most 4 work points a day, 4 work points were still a good amount.

“I know, it’s okay. My family will mail me things and send me money,” Su Mo explained with an excuse.

Zheng Caiping: …

It turned out that she was worrying too much, other people might not care about these work points at all.

If it were two or three years ago, she might have said that Su Mo’s ideological awareness was not good enough and that she should support rural construction after coming to the countryside. But after three years in the countryside, she had long understood that people like them couldn’t be supported in the city and were crammed into the countryside, unwelcome anywhere.

All the educated youth who came with her and whose families had some ability tried to find ways to return to the city.

Su Mo wet the towel with water and wiped her face. As for her teeth, she could only rinse her mouth.

Although there was a toothbrush in her space, she didn’t have it on her, so she had to bear it.

She still had to hurry to buy things. It was uncomfortable not being able to brush her teeth.

Su Mo hung the towel on the thin rope in the room and was thinking about how to ask for leave from the team leader when she heard someone calling her from outside.

Just as she was about to go out, Ma Xiaojuan ran in and winked at her.

“There’s a soldier outside looking for you. He’s quite handsome. Is he your date?”

Su Mo thought about it and decided that the only handsome soldier in the team should be Lu Changzheng, so she nodded.

“That’s not bad. If it’s him, it’s okay too.”

Su Mo: …

She advised her not to get married yesterday. Ma Xiaojuan, I didn’t expect you to be so superficial and obsessed with looks.

“Go out quickly, he’s waiting.” Ma Xiaojuan pushed Su Mo, then pulled her back. “By the way, if you go to the county town, please buy me a pound of egg cakes. If it’s convenient, could you bring me an enamel basin?”

After saying that, she handed Su Mo the money.

In their room, only Chen Lan had an enamel basin, and it was too inconvenient for three people to share. She didn’t dare to ask Su Mo to bring other things because she thought Su Mo was too delicate and probably couldn’t carry much.

Su Mo took the money and went outside.

Lu Changzheng was standing outside the fence of the educated youth site. When he saw Su Mo coming, his eyes lit up.

His partner is just beautiful!

“Comrade Lu, you’re looking for me?”

Lu Changzheng took out two hot eggs from his pocket and handed them to Su Mo. “These are freshly boiled eggs. Eat them while they’re still hot.”

In this era, eggs were precious. Many people in the countryside relied on this “chicken butt bank” to exchange things.

Although he was her new partner, Su Mo still felt a little embarrassed.

Su Mo, who was used to relying on herself, wasn’t used to being cared for by others, at least not yet.

“What about you? Did you eat?” she asked.

“You eat!” Lu Changzheng didn’t answer directly but urged Su Mo to eat quickly.

Why would a grown man like him eat eggs? His girlfriend had just recovered from being sick, and now was the time for her to replenish her strength.

“One for each of us.” Su Mo peeled the egg in her hand and offered it to Lu Changzheng.

Seeing that he didn’t take it, she brought it to his mouth herself.

Lu Changzheng smiled. His girlfriend truly loved him and was willing to share the delicious food with him.

In the end, he couldn’t bring himself to refuse her and swallowed the egg.

Then, he took another egg, peeled it quickly, and handed it to Su Mo.

After Su Mo finished eating the eggs, Lu Changzheng handed her the straw basket.

“I exchanged some eggs in the village yesterday. You’ve just recovered, so you should cook one or two eggs a day to nourish your body,” he said.

Su Mo looked at him in surprise. She didn’t expect this man to be so considerate. For a moment, she wasn’t sure how to respond.

The straw basket was woven from wheat straw, oval-shaped, and deep enough to hold a lot of eggs. Lu Changzheng had spread some wheat straw on top, and while it was unclear exactly how many eggs there were, there must have been one or two kilograms.

“No, no, you should take it home and eat it,” Su Mo said. She felt it was too much. If it were just a few eggs, she might have taken them, especially since she hadn’t had eggs for a long time in the post-apocalyptic world.

“We have food at home. You’ve just recovered, and it’s time to take care of your body. I’m your partner, so it’s normal for me to send you some eggs,” Lu Changzheng replied, frowning slightly, not liking Su Mo’s politeness. Didn’t she just peel eggs for him to eat?

“But it’s a bit too much,” Su Mo insisted.

Lu Changzheng’s mood shifted instantly, from a slight frown to a bright smile. His girlfriend was such a good comrade, she was not greedy at all and even thought these few eggs were too much.

“It’s not much, take it quickly,” he insisted, offering the basket again. Just a few eggs were nothing. He was planning to go to the county’s supply and marketing cooperative later to see if there was any malted milk to buy for her.

Malted milk was a precious commodity, often only available in supply cooperatives in big cities, and sometimes not even in the county’s cooperative.

Su Mo finally took the basket. When she lifted it, she realized it was quite heavy, probably more than two kilograms.

“Are you going out later?” Lu Changzheng asked. Seeing how Su Mo was dressed, he guessed she wasn’t planning to stay at the educated youth camp to rest.

“Yes, I want to take a leave to go to the county town and buy some things.”

“It just so happens that I’m going to the county town too. I’ll take you with me,” he said, though it wasn’t a coincidence he was heading there as well.

“During the autumn harvest, there are no ox carts available to go to the county town. If you walk, it’ll probably take two or three hours. I’ll take you on a bike, it’ll be faster.”

Su Mo thought about it and replied, “Thank you, Comrade Lu.”

“You’re welcome. Then you wait at the educated youth point. I’ll pick you up later,” Lu Changzheng said before leaving.

The people at the educated youth site had been curious for a while. When they saw Su Mo coming in with the straw basket, Zheng Caiping couldn’t help but ask, “Su educated youth, who was that? What did he give you?”

“My boyfriend,” Su Mo said, there was nothing to hide.

“Ah? When did you get a boyfriend?” Zheng Caiping asked, shocked.

Several male educated youths in the center also looked unhappy. Su Mo was the most beautiful girl at the center, and now she was taken by someone else.

“Yesterday,” Su Mo replied briefly.

“He’s wearing a military uniform. Could he be the officer’s son from the Party Secretary’s family?” someone asked.

Su Mo nodded, then carried the straw basket into the room.

At this point, the older educated youth looked subtly at each other.

They had been there long enough to know that the branch secretary had a son who was an officer and reportedly a high-ranking official. They hadn’t expected Su Mo to be so lucky to meet him right after arriving in the countryside. No wonder she didn’t go to work today.

One female educated youth, Lin Xia, looked even more intrigued. When Lu Changzheng’s house was finished and the village aunties went to watch, she had also taken a look and thought it was lovely.

She wasn’t bad looking herself and had fantasized about Lu Changzheng coming back home, falling in love with her, and then she would move into that house.

She never imagined Su Mo would take over instead.

She gritted her teeth in frustration and cursed inwardly, “What a vixen.”

Maybe Su Mo had deliberately waited by the river that day, waiting for Lu Changzheng to arrive before jumping in. Otherwise, why would she have taken leave on that particular day?

What a scheming person!